Rebecca Yarros denounces book bans, Jill Biden champions reading at literacy celebration

WASHINGTON — Words carry weight. They provide context amid chaos, solace amid uncertainty, hope amid horror. But what if you couldn't read? How much of the world might you miss?

Authors and other members of the literary community – including first lady Jill Biden – gathered Wednesday night at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the Barbara Bush Foundation’s 2023 National Celebration of Reading. The night featured authors like Rebecca Yarros ("Fourth Wing"), Cheryl Strayed ("Wild") and Steven Rowley ("The Guncle"), and moving moments from those whose journeys to literacy haven't been as easy as flipping a page.

One such person was Oliver James, who gained hundreds of thousands of TikTok followers on his journey of learning to read in his 30s. At the event, he read a short statement from a teleprompter – which singer Franc D'Ambrosio, who is dyslexic, referred to as a Cirque du Soleil feat – and captivated the audience with illuminating thoughts on the power of reading.

"It's hard to tell (someone) that they don't know things," James said. "But when I wasn't reading, I thought I knew everything. And then I started learning how to read and found out I knew nothing."

Jill Biden: 'Few skills are as crucial in democracy' as reading

To put it in context: 130 million American adults read below a sixth-grade level – that's 54% of 16- to 74-year-olds.

Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist

It's why – especially given our polarizing political climate – reading is more fundamental than ever.

"Reading forces us to challenge our preconceived notions, question our underlying assumptions and wrestle with uncomfortable truths," the first lady said before a rapt room at the Terrace Theater. "Few skills are as crucial in democracy that owes its endurance to engage and inform citizens."

Rebecca Yarros 'can't comprehend' book bans

Yarros started writing her books back more than a decade ago during her husband's third deployment to Afghanistan – one page in the middle of the night.

Now, Yarros has written more than 15 novels – one of which, fantasy novel "Fourth Wing," is enjoying a high spot on USA TODAY's Best-selling Booklist. The "Fourth Wing" sequel, "Iron Flame," is out in a few weeks.

"Fantasy gives us an opportunity to examine our own culture by creating a different one, and to make remarks in our own society through fantastical adventure," Yarros told USA TODAY in an interview before the event.

The accomplished author, mother of six and military spouse championed literacy in remarks at the event: "I've been raised by military parents who never want censored what I read as I grew up," she said. "They believed that knowing both sides of an argument made you better informed, better prepared to form your own opinion, or defend your point at the dinner table, and the only truly unacceptable opinion was ignorance."

She later denounced book bans. "As an author, I can't comprehend why we would ban books, shown to increase students' empathy and understanding of the world around them, simply because those novels don't align with a particular viewpoint," she said. "And I definitely can't understand the attacks on books that represent marginalized readers."

Yarros also told USA TODAY: "I wish more parents would take the opportunity to talk to their kids about what they're reading instead of banning the books, that they took the time to read them and discuss them with their kids instead of simply saying you can't."

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Cheryl Strayed, author of 'Wild,' 'Tiny Beautiful Things': 'You get to be inside my mind'

Strayed learned how to read at 6 years old. Her world would never be the same: "I learned the power of literature is that we get to see ourselves most truly, we get to see others in the world in ways that we could never conjure or imagine left to our own devices," she said. "We get to understand that people who seem different from us, actually are the same as us."

Strayed also told USA TODAY that she loves all kinds of art forms – but something about literature hits differently.

"It's the only art form that honestly allows you to mind meld with somebody else," she said. "Like you get to be inside my mind. What was I thinking when my toenails were falling off? What was I telling myself when I was afraid, and I had to say to myself, 'I am not afraid,' as I wrote in 'Wild?' There's something very intimate about that."

Steven Rowley, Helena Andrews-Dyer talk inclusivity

Rowley, author of "The Celebrants" (and forthcoming "Guncle" sequel "The Guncle Abroad") told USA TODAY that acquiring books is particularly important for queer youth. "For young queer kids, like sometimes they're very on their own, and they don't have the support or don't feel yet that they can trust that they have the support of their parents," Rowley said. "Being able to have access to these stories and not have them kept from them is incredibly important."

"The Mamas" author Helena Andrews-Dyer discussed the importance of diversity in storytelling in her prepared speech that touched on racism and classism: "We talk about books being windows to the world, and they are, but they have to be mirrors too. I repeat, books are mirrors. And those mirrors are why I write, to see and to be seen."

The night closed with a few songs courtesy of famed "Phantom of the Opera" D'Ambrosio, including a haunting medley from the musical. One couldn't help but feel these lyrics linger: "Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams / Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before / Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar / And you'll live as you've never lived before."

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